Saga of Tanya the Evil

How would a modern day salaryman from Japan, an especially ruthless and career-focused one too, manage to survive as a little orphan girl in a war ridden world where magic exists and a being that calls himself God tries his best to make things harder for said girl? The synopsis might sound a little messy. And honestly, Youjo Senki is an anime that I didn't plan to watch but tempted by the pretty amazing opening song, I decided to give it a try when it started airing. And I'm very glad I did. The aforementioned salaryman was in his original life a cold person that onlyfocused on his job. He didn't feel any sympathy towards those he had to fire. His goal was to climb the steps of his career and to live an easy and peaceful life. And it was all going according to his plan, until the day a man he had fired took revenge on him and pushed him in front of a train. In the moment of his death, he is faced by a being that claims to be God. Believing that modern people don't need God, the protagonist denies his existence until the very end. And as a result of their conversation, he is reborn in a world of dire straits, where he needs to live on as a little orphan girl in the harsh reality of war. And in spite of the bad situation around, our protagonist - now known as Tanya Degurechaff - doesn't plan on giving up on living a proper life. The overall concept is pretty unusual. I was skeptical at first, but in the end it works fine. The show tells not only a story of a very young girl progressing with her military career, but also a fight between her and said Being X who tries to make Tanya recognize him as God. The story is very interesting and engaging, mostly thanks to the protagonist. Tanya is a character that is very nice to follow. She's dead set against Being X and manages to live on and be successful in spite of all the hardships he puts her in. It's fun to watch her accomplish new things and it's fun to watch her struggle. She's a strong character and, since her personality remains the same as in her previous life, she is still focused on pursuing an easy life and avoiding unnecessary mess. But if everything goes wrong, she puts her mind to it to overcome the obstacles. Her experiences in the previous life weren't fruitless either. Not only does she have some knowledge of the war which in her original life had already happened, but her cold and career minded personality is perfectly suited for a soldier. But there's more - she's also progressing as a character in her new life. In the end, we can see she is a little different - she has gotten to know more about the human nature and its unpredictability. And she uses this knowledge. I loved Tanya and now she is one of my favorite characters in general. She fuels the story and is perfect fit for a main character, if you're not looking for perfectly moral warriors of justice. It's not that she's complete villain either. In spite of her being called evil, she's not essentially a bad person. She avoids unnecessary conflict and likes to have things peaceful. But at the same time, she doesn't hesitate to do everything to wipe out her enemies and she shows no mercy for the disobedient comrades either. And to top it off, she's genuinely enjoyng the battlefield. Sadly, it's only Tanya that shines so brightly in this show. There aren't many memorable characters. There are many bland personalities and her soldiers don't have much to them either. There was only a little more focus on a small group of them, especially on Viktoriya. But unfortunately, the story hasn't progressed enough to put her or any other side character in the spotlight yet. Also, the main villain of the story only appears in the last episode. As for the art, it's decent. The not so pretty CGI is used here and there but it's something I'm able to forgive - it didn't hurt my eyes that badly. No major animation problems spotted either. The character design may be disappointing for some, since it was changed quite a lot in comparison with the LN/manga designs. But honestly, I didn't mind. It's not a show where I'd like to see a cutie that ran away from some shoujo show and put a military uniform on. Which is yet another good point of the show! Tanya is not your average cute loli, and she's even less cute if you remember who she originally is. The characters in Youjo Senki aren't supposed to be some eyecandy, and I got used to the way they look quickly. The music was very good. The background music was remarkable, but at the same time a little repetitive. It wasn't that big a problem though. It sounded good. The opening song - Jingo Jungle by Myth & Roid - is a pretty amazing song and actually the thing that made me give the show a try. The song fits the show very well. And the same thing can be said about the ending song - Los! Los! Los! sung by Tanya (Yuuki Aoi). Her VA did an EXCELLENT job not only with said song but with her voice as Tanya in general. The voice acting was generally good in this show, but it's Yuuki Aoi that shines very, very brightly this time. Her monologues are really something else. There's also another ending song (episode 8) which is Sensen no Realism by Niina Mako. The song is just about perfect, I'd say. Another thing that is worth mentioning is the fact that this show is very detailed. More than you could think at first. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not very good at history. But there were some pretty neat details here and there. There are other details that aren't related to history, but also nice to see. Like Tanya's change of voice throughout the series, her problems with carrying the rifle (explained in the Youjo Shenki mini anime), the way conversation and fight scenes are choreographed (where camera movements tell us who is on the advantage at the moment). All in all, in spite of its flaws (like there being no other particularly important character aside from Tanya or the last episode ending on a cliffhanger), Youjo Senki is an extremely enjoyable show that is far from being generic. And it's mostly this enjoyment, my love for Tanya and the excitement I felt waiting for each episode that make me give it a 9. It's not perfect but it's definitely solid (putting away the very personal feelings, I'd say it deserves a 7 or so) and it depends on the viewers tastes how much they are going to enjoy this anime because like I said - it's mostly Tanya that fuels the show and not everyone likes her and the overall idea of this anime. I enjoyed it A LOT and I hope with all my heart that it wasn't just an ad for the LN and that there wil be another season. Which would make sense, considering it's NUT's first anime and a pretty successful one.

To the people who finally expected a negative review on this show, sorry for being late; Being X gave me trouble. Also, expect lots of religion puns; have a problem, then you'd probably have a hell of a time with this damn review. Youjo Senki is a pathetic waste that doesn't know what the hell it's talking about, stuck in its own incompetence and stupidity of vengefulness and craziness that it completely ruins a potentially good war story in the name of edge and sacrilege. From its ridiculous premise that's a sloppy combination of the premises of Drifters and Izetta (both mediocre and bad war showsfrom the previous year respectively), to its laughable and generic attempts at emotion, this anime has less depth and intelligence than a Michael Bay movie; at least those have nice Megan Fox fan service and CGI that isn't fugly as hell. So, why did this train wreck of an anime bomb harder than a pack of fighter planes? Let's find out, shall we? So, a psychopathic businessman gets killed, but in the midst of death, encounters a pissed off God that reincarnates him as a mage girl in an alternate world and torments him. Again, just like Drifters, with a bit of Izetta. From there, we learn of the poorly defined magic that has multiple unexplained spells and bullets because the anime doesn't sit down and tell us about the many variations of spells and bullets shown throughout the anime. Plus, the hover system our protagonist's side uses makes no sense, with it being a 1-legged booster with nothing to help give them horizontal support. From there, we plunge into the two main plot lines: Tanya rises through the tanks in the name of self-preservation and hates the damn deity known as God, or Being X. Both of these are handled horribly, especially the latter since the anime doesn't have faith in us, meaning that it has to remind us about it at least 4 times per episode. I mean, dissing God and making him cruel is a good and compelling plot point, especially if we constantly remind the audience at nauseam, right? As for the war itself, well, this show keeps skipping giant chunks of this World War that would really be beneficial to know, like the assembling of multiple companies under Tanya’s rule, seeing Tanya become major, establishing just who is currently in the war without resorting to “who are we fighting this episode”, etc. and it's quite upsetting since it basically sacrifices the real soul of the war just for the sake of fueling the awful plot of Tanya Vs God. It all feels arbitrary for the sake of a singular character’s plot, which is a major sin in and of itself, especially in execution. Plus, in the later episodes where major war-ending schemes are launched, we get little insight on them (or sometimes are just thrusted into them without knowing what the hell they are), and with no sense of transition whatsoever. They literally gutted this war just for the sake of 12 episode pacing because god forbid we actually get character development, proper play-by-play on the events of the war, or anything that could help make a decent war story. Plus, some of these events, like Tanya stabbing a dude in the heart before dropping him alone in a huge body of water and them him somehow being alive and a mage ready to end her, raise major plot holes that really damn this script. Needless to say, this ain’t no Saving Private Ryan, or even Pearl Harbor. By the final act, it gave up trying and just opted for pathetic deaths and displays of emotion, and a worthless cliffhanger. The show finally accepted defeat by the finale, surrendering any pretense of knowing what it was talking about, as I said it did earlier. What a waste of potential. Not even gonna touch any more of the ludicrous plot holes or moments of forced drama; this is already SEED Destiny levels of hellishly stupid. The crux of your enjoyment (or lack thereof) comes down to whether or not you like and/or tolerate Tanya as a character. Suffice it to say, I did not. She's only characterized as an unreasonably psychotic warrior who knows some decent military stuff (more than many experienced generals who have been doing this longer than Tanya has been alive in her current reincarnation), and almost nothing else into the final act, where she shows a teensy bit of compassion and turmoil. She doesn't develop or even get fleshed out despite her hogging the spotlight for 95% of this anime; can't go three minutes without her, making it an even bigger shame. People like to say that she is a villain protagonist, and that is just plain untrue. Villain protagonists are the people in which while we get to see them the most and what they go through to reach their eventual demise, the point of the story is to see them fail. Tanya is supposed to succeed against the adversity of war and the dickishness of God, therefore, she is a protagonist who isn't a villain, just overly brutal and unpleasant; a byronic hero, if you will. Let's compare her to two other military badass protagonists, Lelouch vi Britannia from Code Geass, and Char Aznabe from Gundam (I know he is usually an antagonist, but he's the protagonist of Origin and Zeta, so I win). Like Tanya, Lelouch vi Britannia is also arrogant and brutal, and suffers turmoil the more he goes on in his war,. However, we get to see many sides of him, from his charismatic side, to his lazy side, to his dorky side that proves how physically weak he is. We see him in a variety of perspectives and how he mostly deteriorates in the just causes he believes in. Unlike Tanya, we get to know a lot about him from his past to the many different demeanors he expresses around different people, aside from bloodlust and calmness. As for Char Aznable, he is a psychopath, just like Tanya, except portrayed in a realistic manner instead of an eccentric cartoon interpretation of a psycho. Tanya is a dick to people, willing to kill many of them for disobeying her, and is not a pleasant person to be around, especially when bloodthirsty; she's a simple anime crazy person, or what is basically what uninformed people deem as psychopathic characters. Char, on the other hand, is a true psychopath. He cuts of close relationships with people for his own goals, sets up people for death just to survive and not get his cover blown, or just because he has no use for them anymore, and does it all with one goal in mind. He seems approachable, but he is cold, twisted, and calculated, and has become a perfect soldier who isn't in need of compassion, especially after the first person he has romantic feelings for died in front of him. Now, is it a bit dickish to compare a new character like Tanya to two of the most well-written and recognizable anime characters in history? Maybe, but it sets things into perspective. People sometimes joke about how Tanya is the only actual character in the show, and barring a few minor exceptions, this holds some actual water. We have Viktoriya, who I can only describe as a discount Akane Tsunemori (from Psycho-Pass) with no development or fleshing-out, and the other characters aren't worth remembering, like Weiss. There's this one decent dude Tanya stabs, and he becomes a useless and crazy person who no longer speaks, there's his daughter who only gets two scenes of screen time, there are Tanya's other soldiers who are largely the same character, there's a generic mad scientist...what a riveting cast, right, ladies and gentlemen? Plus, all of the generals barring one are basically the exact same except one is old, one had blue hair, and one cracks occasional jokes. None of these guys develop or are fleshed out, and when some do go through turmoil, it's usually in the stupidest, most emotionally manipulative, and contrived ways imaginable. Talk about a ungodly cast; best of the year, right everyone? You know how people stress making a good first impression? Well, Studio NUT did the exact opposite with how they handled the animation of this series. There is so much ugly CGU that is is grating, especially when it is CGI Tanya, CGI soldiers, or a CGI rotating landscape show that would only look acceptable in a WWII PS3/XBOX 360 game. It is absurd how much of it there is, and it almost never looks good. I also counted 5 moments where the rate rate went straight to hell; one in episodes 4, 7, 10, 11, and 12 respectively, with the first two being ugly rotating shot surrounded by ugly CGI books and battleships respectively. The directing can be pretty awful too for some of these reasons. Sure, the magic (discounting when the magic barriers break and become ugly CGI fragments) looks pretty, and so do the bullets, but that doesn't help when it comes to poorly done action scenes (where dodging is a rarity) and awful CGI and cinematography. At least the interior design looks ice, but man do some of the characters look awful at times. I also hate Viktoriya's facial design, which is weird since one of the only good things about this anime's aesthetic is how different everyone's faces are, and how detailed and decently shiny theirs can look at times. I could go on and on about the awful CGI and everything else, but you get the point. For Studio NUT's first production, it doesn't look pretty, which is a shame when you compare that to the first anime done by Trigger, WIT, and MAPPA (Kill la Kill, many parts of Attack on Titan since they worked on it with Production I.G., and Terror in Resonance). If nothing else, barring the horrible sound effects that look like there sometimes recorded from a broken boom box, this show sounds pleasing. The OP, "JINGO JUNGLE" by MYTH & ROID, is an addicting watch that perfectly encapsulates the crazed tone of this series, but this band makes amazing music anyway if their contributions to Re:Zero are anything to speak of. The ED, "Los! Los! Los!" by Tanya Degurechaff (Aoi Yuuki), is a decent ED that somewhat accomplishes the same goal, except this one is just passable whereas the OP is awesome. The music is also decent at what it tried to do, but isn't very memorable despite being actually kinda good. As for the dub, it's alright. Most of the background and named character voices are pretty alright. However, I have issue with the voice of Tanya. To be fair to Monica Rial (the VA for Tanya), I don't really think any english voice actor could've really nailed the role of Tanya' and she does do the best she can while being one of the better possible picks for that character. Unfortunately, some moments fall noticeably flat and the character doesn't really lend itself to any english voice actor aside from a 10-12 year-old girl who's willing to sound really deranged and composed at the same time, sort of like a little-girl DBZ KAI Frieza. All in all, not a bad dub. Look, can't we just all admit that this was a terrible season of anime? Whether you agree or not, what a coincidence that the last anime I tackle this season manages to represent everything wrong about Winter Anime 2017, from awful frame rate hiccups, to god-awful and overused CGI, to a dearth of memorable characters that get properly fleshed out, to asinine plot twists and writing that abandons all cohesion. These were surprisingly popular trends for this infernal anime season in particular. When I first heard of this show, I had hoped it would be Shuumatsu no Izetta done right after that show turned from promising series into a pathetic mess, but after the first episode, I lost faith. Said faith died even more the more this show kept going on. With all that said, before I find myself court-martialed for hating this popular war anime, I shall bid you adieu.

Before Youjo Senki even aired, I had preconceived notions about it. Based on its ridiculous main character and overall premise, I was sharpening my literary claws in preparation to critically rip it to shreds in this eventual review. Lollis, reincarnation, magic and the tedious politics of war were all aspects I roll my eyes at individually, so naturally I didn’t have my hopes up very high after the first episode. After concluding the final segment of Youjo Senki, I can say without doubt that my initial impressions couldn’t have been farther from my analysis of the finished product. It’s an anime I wanted to hate,but in the end surprised the hell out of me. The Saga of Tanya the Evil starts out on a battlefield. The fog of war is palpable and laden with smells of gunpowder and blood. Screams of agony and despair resonate from friend and foe alike, causing your bones to shake with an uncontrollable fear. This is war. The first thing I noticed about the anime was the expert level of sound design. Each explosion and gunshot echoed in my brain, causing my focus to increase with each passing moment. Then, as if transported from the wrong anime… Tanya appeared. The stark juxtaposition of the cute, Aryan 9 year old against the malevolence of a gruesome battlefield was hard to swallow. I just couldn’t grasp how she was written into the anime at all. To add to her perplexing position, appearing beside Tanya was another glassy-eyed damsel, who clumsily trudged through the combat zone, narrowly evading enemy fire. Adding to the gunfire and merciless killings was the boom and crack of magical attacks from certain individuals. Mages, who could harness supernatural forms of energy contributed to the battle, a clear reminder that I was watching an anime and not a literal historical account. I paused the episode to digest what I was seeing. I know anime in general has its fair share of nonsensical moments, but the contrast of these characters and abilities with the haunting atmosphere was jarring. As the series continued, I became less fixated on Tanya’s chibi appearance, and more focused on the personality she exhibited, or the precarious situations she found herself in. Without spoiling, her backstory and purpose is explained, though not in the most sensical way. This disclosure causes most of the “what the hell?” moments to dissipate, and triggers the viewer to really hone in on the finer aspects of what Youjo Senki has to offer. The magic abilities some characters possessed were also loosely explained, as anime often does. Though I’m not sure how I expected these powers to be any bit of believable. The main story itself is nothing special. We get dropped into an ongoing war between nations (presumably during World War I), both at each other’s throats trying to gain the upper hand in the theatre of battle. Tanya is a captain of a small battalion, relatively insignificant to the grand scheme of things. Through willpower and a stern leadership style, Tanya excels through the ranks in order to gain supreme power and ultimately defy her maker, God himself. There aren’t many “aha” moments or intellectual pondering to be had, just a straightforward war story with the added twist of a cutthroat preteen at the helm. I will also admit that while entrancing to look at, the magic elements weren’t entirely necessary, as the series had enough occult moments to go around. But seriously people, we don’t need a recap FOR A TWELVE EPISODE SERIES. If you care for historical fiction or war jargon, this anime is chock-full of it. After the noisy, action-packed battle scenes fade out, they are followed by debriefs, strategery and political patois to ignite the interest of any history buff. Very little of the past or present parallels our world technically, but the rhetoric and red tape of fighting a war are synonymous with some of the battles fought in the 1900’s. Many risks are taken, with some paying dividends while others blowing up in the commander’s faces. It can be pretty engrossing if you can get past Tanya’s childish appearance. The characters in Youjo Senki are irrelevant with the sole exception of Tanya. She’s cute, ruthless and has a severe case of Napoleon syndrome. At first, I was so nearsighted that I assumed any other main protagonist would’ve been a better fit for the story, but as the anime went on I actually began to think the opposite. Having such a unique character as Tanya for the lead gave Youjo Senki the propensity to stand out from the crowd of its genre. I could appreciate the route the writers went with her backstory and who she really was, but I think her past life should’ve been elaborated on a bit more. In the end, Tanya grew on me as a character, and I eventually even began to empathize with her situations, something inconceivable to comprehend when she was introduced. One complaint I have about the characters is the trouble I had differentiating between friend and foe at various points in the show. Although Tanya and Serebryakova stood out due to their arresting appearance, the others disappeared into a muddled mess of similar faces. The animation and action scenes in Youjo Senki are some of the stronger points of the anime. No pixel lag or framing issues at all. Definitely one of the strongest showing in visuals this season, and the animators should be patting themselves on the back. The art style is grim and uninviting, utilizing a blend of muted dark colors. This style accentuates the vibe of each scene, and adds to the militant structure of the strategic scenes. The character models for Tanya and her female right hand are vibrant and contrast the battlefield well, and their facial expressions all flowed accurately. There hasn’t been an anime I’ve pointed out solely due to sound quality since I watched the 2015 release of Knights of Sidonia. Anyone who’s seen that show knows how much realism and feeling was put into each sound effect, and how satisfying they were to listen to. Youjo Senki’s sound engineers emulate the harsh conditions of a war setting meticulously and with a level of finesse barely rivaled. I was quite impressed. The OP, though not always there worked to get the viewers pumped for some intense action scenes, while the epic, pulsing ED was my favorite of the season. Aoi Yuuki did a bang-up job portraying the adolescent tyrant, and from what I’ve read she had a lot of fun playing her as well. The rest of the OST flowed together beautifully, with each track transitioning seamlessly into the next, and adding a level of believability to the accompanied scene. Most importantly, should you watch Youjo Senki? I was ultimately impressed with how much my mood shifted through the 12 episodes, and can give the anime a solid recommendation. The story won’t blow you away, and the characters (sans Tanya) are uninspiring, but the action scenes and strategic nature of the battles will offer plenty of incentive to stick around. Plus, if you’re all about reincarnation and fighting “God”, there’s plenty of goodies for you to indulge yourself with. I’d recommend this series to fans of action shows or large scale battle shows like Attack on Titan, or Overlord, though the historical elements could relate its fans to Joker Game or others. Surprise of the season? Possibly, but I was certainly glad I watched it, and I’m sure you’ll like it too! Thanks, as always for reading and be sure to check out the rest of my Winter ‘17 reviews!

Let's start off strong: I hate Youjo Senki. I hate what it aims to be, I hate what it is, I hate that it tries to do things it clearly can't do. I'm an incredibly positive guy, always searching for the enjoyment in any type of series, and yet Youjo Senki cannot achieve the simplest of goals I could have set for it: help me with finding those positives. I will refer to Tanya as "she" instead of "he" throughout this review and hope that doesn't bother anybody. *Spoilers included* Story: 3 The Saga of Tanya the Evil is first and foremost an isekaianime. A very grounded businessman dies after a worker he previously fired throws him under a speeding train. Just before he dies, God, or Being X as the show refers to it, approaches him to talk about his lack of faith and his life lacking values that a human should have. As an atheist, the businessman tries to disprove his existence (Uh, how?), which leads God to reincarnate him into an alternate world as a little girl. This world is one in which war is the main topic, strongest army units are mages: flying soldiers that are able to power up their shots through the use of crystals, and one where EVERYONE IS STUPID AND FAILS AT DECISION MAKING SO BAD THAT IT MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE. My number one gripe with the series are the enemy soldiers and how they compare to Tanya and her squad. Episode one was enough to make me angry. Just to point a couple of horrendous, illogical moments in those 24 minute episode: - a scout went straight up to the air instead of moving left or right and got sniped instantly. - Ground units cannot dodge. - Neither can air units AKA mages - Tanya's the only character that can dodge - All that Tanya needs to do in order to win a battle is fire off a couple of her magic attacks - A squad leader decides to waste a ton of magic energy of all his men just to kill a couple of scouts, not caring about a counterattack that could happen (Spoiler: it happens) - Soldiers are too often insubordinate towards their superiors - People can go on an important mission, despite their squad leaders saying no, if they ask hard enough Let me remind you, that this is a serious war, where people die probably every couple of seconds. At that point I had hoped that this would maybe be addressed, that some actually reasonable decisions are going to be made, that the threat would grow bigger. Nope. Tanya and her team attacked people by aiming at the enemy and flying towards them as they stare into the barrels of their guns and die like flies. The first dodge that an enemy performed happened in episode 6. When that took place, one of Tanya's subordinates said "Wow, those guys are good!" Are. You. Kidding. Me. The standard for an enemy is either one that stays in one place or moves in a straight line. It's not hard to see why, this is the first anime of studio NUT, their budget was limited, they couldn't animate all the movement they wanted, but this is not an excuse at all. The camera could be placed and moved differently to give the illusion of a more living battlefield, they could use less close ups of the kills and instead focused on the shooting soldiers, Tanya or someone else could get hit from time to time and so on. I would even prefer more CGI over the lack of any sort of dangerous atmosphere in this show. The second big problem I had was the inconsistent intelligence of certain characters. Tanya, who is actually a businessmen on the inside, after reading a lot of books through her young life, is apparently more capable of creating strategies than the HQ is, which is full of people that probably studied war for 30-40 years. Even if I took into account the facts that Tanya came from a world where wars already took place, or she's just naturally talented in those type of things, that would still mean that everyone else is inferior to that one, little human being. And yet, the HQ finally get their shit together and make a proper plan that ends up being a very good one. I am not able to imagine how they were able to do that though, considering that they weren't able to push back the enemy until one person came along. Thirdly: What really is Being X? He clearly isn't omnipotent, he would easily achieve his goal if he was, he can't predict the future, his actions tend to have very little affect on Tanya or even fail miserably, he gets outsmarted by a mere human, so there's no way his plans are something that he came up with on the go and so on. Also, why would he prioritise this one being over any other? Giving no real rules to what is the God figure and how can it function isn't a problem on its own, that stuff may get explained later, but it becomes one when he is a rather active part of the conflict. It becomes even worse when some of his plans have nearly no effect. For example, in one of the last episodes, another person gets a similar power to Tanya's. The thing is, he doesn't kill a single person, even when he shot one in the back by surprise. Nice power you got there buddy. Tanya killed a small group with her first shot after receiving that power and she was seen flying around before she did that. But I can forgive anything, absolutely anything, if the show can still be interesting and/or entertaining to me despite its flaws. That's the main reason for why I watch anime. But this anime wasn't able to get to me. The reason being, as soon as Tanya receives her powers, she was able to annihilate almost anything in her way. When you know that there's a really strong weapon that a character can use at any time without consequences or any particular preparation, it makes the fights feel less exciting and repetitive. Was it interesting then? Not really. With everything depending on a God's whim and interference, it was rather random and very sudden. For Tanya to face a serious obstacle, Being X had to interfere or one of her subordinates had to pull something off, but I can't have any idea that it will happen, it just does and I'm supposed to go with that plot point. I don't want to do that though, I want to know what triggered that reaction at that exact point or why would that specific moment go the way it did. It just doesn't leave a lot in the back of my mind, or when it does, it uses that randomly once again. That's not always a bad thing, there were a couple of moments where that paid off and I was genuinely surprised while also understanding how that plot twist works. There were instances of decent writing and it sucks because the quality is so inconsistent, ranging from good to awful. As for the other strong points of the series, I have to say that it's a pretty solid deviation from the isekai genre. Unlike most other series where the main character is pretty wimpy and doesn't know what's going on, Tanya comes in with a mission. She's gonna beat God at his own game. That part of the story definitely works well, it pushes it far enough to make me interested in the ending alone. It's just a very good concept and I'm sure it will sell many people tired of the usual isekai scheme in some series nowadays. And that's about it. All other themes and motives are completely pushed aside for the sake of getting from point A to point B, but what's the point when you left the important things behind? This show doesn't evolve, it just switches rapidly for the sake of convenience. I'm just done. Characters: 4 Dear God, I don't know who came up with the idea of putting a grumpy, atheist businessman into a child with magic abilities that later becomes a soldier but I gotta give him this one. Tanya is really well stylized as a character and grows throughout the series. She starts off as a psycho that desperately tries to cling to survival by using any means into a caring leader of a group that could follow her to the pits of hell, not losing her ideals at the same time. She's smart and collected, but when something doesn't go her way she gets angry and annoyed. She is stylized to contrast her appearance, she keeps on putting masks in front of different people but is still the same on the inside. She fits the tone of the show and thrives in the setting. When the entire focus is set on her alone, it becomes rather captivating. Her goal and way of living is compelling, maybe even silly, in a positive way. Can't really blame her character for the rest of the cast not getting treated the same way. That's because they all get very little detailing compared to Tanya. Once again, she tilts the balance too much. Let me explain how do I see the cast of the show. Essentially, you could take any character from a specific group, like Tanya's squad or generals back at the HQ, and replace it by another one from that same group, and you'll get the exact same set of characteristics. Their reactions, dialogue, way of thinking would still be the exact same. I can't find a point to this, so the way I see it, it simply has none. While they made a good choice on focusing on Tanya, it makes it so she's the only complicated, convoluted character in the entire show. There were two other attempts at creating characters. One of them was Serebryakova, another girl that was the second in command in Tanya's group. She spent the most time with Tanya on the battlefield. At first she was a clumsy soldier that acted suddenly and impulsively, but by the end, it's almost like she got rid of her emotions. She grows into a cold killer that's able to sleep despite the hardest of tasks ahead of her and the most brutal things behind her. But.... why? How did that happen? Was it just the fact that she spent time with Tanya? Then why didn't anyone else become this way? Her only defining characteristic in her group is the fact that she's a girl, is that it? At one point, without me even realising, she randomly changed into a different person on the battlefield. Random.... sudden... where did I hear that before? The second attempt at making a distinctive character was Erich von Rerugen. He was one of the only people to notice how brutal and demonic Tanya's behaviour is. He simply didn't trust her. He tried to convince the rest of the generals that giving her more power is wrong, but nobody listened to him. This is where his character importance ends. He provides nothing more to the series. The rest of the cast are as replaceable as they could be. I like using the world "blob" recently, so I'll use it again, because that's exactly what they are. It's like all their lines could be said by just one of them, like someone created only one character and thought it's okay to stretch him onto multiple people. I don't think I can go any more precise about how I feel. Concluding this part, the cast is clearly created to serve the purpose of surrounding Tanya rather than being their own people. I can see that, but I don't like it at all. At least Tanya was mostly entertaining to follow, having exactly her as an MC is probably the best selling point. Art and Animation: 4 You better thank the sakuga or I'll be all over this. The lowest point, as expected. Studio NUT's first project with little budget simply had to include serious amount of CGI and other tricks to save up some money for the important moments. While I could get behind making ground troops CGI, they're going to die in a matter of seconds anyway, but using it so much on mages as they soar and maneuver through the air looks uncomfortably different compared to the rest of the show. Even some key characters can't escape the harsh treatment, we get to see quite a few shots of CGI Tanya. Another thing was the mouth movement, most of the time it's simply the same mouth copied and pasted onto a different character. Perhaps it's not noticeable on the regular, because there are close ups that indeed differ, but at times it's silly seeing so many characters having the same mouth movement. Despite that, there ARE moments where cutting corners paid off. Some specific battles look much better than others. Considering how important those were, I'm pretty sure that they saved the money to pay the animators for those scenes alone. Most notable one would be the fight in episode 11, where movement is very smooth and energetic. Besides that, the directing is nothing to write home about. There are way too many still or reused shots, lack of interesting ideas that could help with the heavy usage of CGI, camera placement is very plain so the shots often lack depth they require and such. The art style looks okay, lot of gray, brown and dark green. Those colors complement the militaristic setting well. The character designs are a bit off, Tanya and Serebryakova look completely different from the male characters. They're drawn differently, have totally different face outlines and shapes. Male characters look much harsher and they have more details. On paper this works, but visually the women stand out more than Necessary. Their gender should be enough to make them stand out amongst all those men flying around them, but with this choice it makes it feel awkward. On their own though, the designs are okay. The OP and ED were poorly directed and animated, just like the rest of the show they use a lot of still shots, some artwork or backgrounds, sometimes random shots from the show. There is absolutely nothing more to write about here. Youjo Senki is not the most visually impressing show to say the least... Sound: 8 I will give credit where credit is due: The sound design is great. Before I even get to the music, I have to mention how well implemented the sound effects are. Firstly, great choice in sounds. They're definitely trying to help the utter lack of dangerous atmosphere simply by sounding dangerous. Everything is very loud, often overtaking the other sounds like voices. This really gives off the feeling of how much chaos is going on around the battlefield. The sounds of magic items actually fit pretty well with the rest of the show. They sound a bit mechanical, which works really well with the time period and setting (alternative World War I). Not like it came off as a surprise, the sound director for the show was the great Iwanami Yoshikazu, who previously worked on famous anime such as Fate/Zero, Unlimited Blade Works, Baccano, Psycho Pass and Sword Art Online. He's been around for a while now, he knows what he's doing. The voices were expertly picked. I usually don't talk about this too much, I watch series in sub and I don't feel comfortable judging Japanese voices, but Tanya's voice sounds exactly like she is an angry, annoyed child who got access to some insane power. simply put: she sounds crazy and mad, like she should. Miki Schinichiro makes an appearance as Erich, his voice is always great. The other ones do their job well, can't really The music isn't falling behind too far. It captures the very dynamic feel of the show, but doesn't really make it reach new heights. Accompanies the atmosphere, but doesn't go past being the sidekick. I'd say it's the minimum quality it had to perform at to make it qualify as "good" for me. I have found myself thinking about the OST in between episodes, so that's a good sign. While the openings weren't well directed, the songs themselves are very catchy and energetic. They feel a bit off when you put the alongside the atmosphere of the show, but they're good enough to overcome that issue for me. JINGO JUNGLE by MYTH & ROID is simply a very good song with very strong lyrics and "Los! Los! Los!" sang by Tanya's seiyuu also feels good on the ears. Those are the kind of openings where you want them going on in the background so you can prepare a sandwich or something. Enjoyment: 4 Rather than focusing on its mistakes, Youjo Senki moved forward with a pace that at least kept things enticing. With a couple of interesting takes on war and the isekai genre, this should have turned into my highlight of the winter season. While it wasn't per say boring, but my experience with Youjo Senki was rather annoying, not interesting, filled to the brim with mistakes and holes that were never covered. Having only a couple of smiles on my face throughout its runtime, I would say I had a pretty bad time with it. It tumbled down in every aspect, but never made a comeback that could save it in my eyes. Overall: 4 Tanya simply isn't that good. No matter at what angle I looked at it, it never was good. It struggled to find its own direction and truly making the most of what it had to offer. Numerous other studios were able to find ways to cover for their lack of budget numerous times before studio NUT came along, but it didn't really try to follow those footsteps. They made an attempt to do what they wanted to do with the money and time they had, which could be commendable if not for the fact that most of my issues depend on the skills of the people writing the show. If that's lacking, no amount of money can save the project. That's how I look at the show - a failed trial run, a miserable attempt at doing things "their own way". Unfortunately, this turned out to be a serious disappointment. Is it only me, or does every time that Tanya gets annoyed at Being X, she sounds like the villains from Scooby Doo? "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you Being X!" As always, this is purely my opinion, but I can't really recommend you to develop your own.